Odo B. Wilhelm

Odo Barrett Wilhelm (12 September 1896-2 October 1960) was a Lieutenant-General in the US Air Force during World War II.

Biography
Odo Barrett Wilhelm was born on 12 September 1896 in Dickinson, North Dakota, United States. Wilhelm enlisted in the US Army in 1917 during World War I, and he joined its air service following its creation after the war's end. Wilhelm had taken up an interest in flying during the war, having seen German airplanes perform bombing runs against the Allied Powers forces. Wilhelm became a pilot in 1920 and became an instructor at a flight school in 1925 before rising through the ranks of the US Air Force. In 1940, he was promoted to Lieutenant-General during the peacetime draft, and he took part in the modernization and formation of the wartime air force. Wilhelm and his squadron fought against Japan during the Pacific War, and his squadron moved to Eniwetok after its capture in 1944. From Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands, Wilhelm's VMF 113/422 and VMB 151/612 squadrons launched bombing raids on Ponape in the Caroline Islands, targeting the sizeable Imperial Japanese Army garrison on the island. The bombings continued until the Japanese surrender in August 1945, and Wilhelm continued to serve in the US Air Force after the war. He accepted command of an air wing based in California in 1949, and he retired from the Air Force in 1955. Wilhelm died in Modesto, California in 1960.